When the CEO shoots you...

Normally I'd be very tempted to comment with a health warning like "Don't try this at home", but in the case of Deutsche Bank CEO John Cryan, the man knew what he was doing.

Whilst I was trying various angles during our 30-minute portrait shoot at the company's UK Headquarters, he noticed what lens I was using and commented that he also owned that particular piece of glass. An entirely unexpected conversation about photography ensued, during which he revealed that he is a keen amateur photographer interested in landscapes and trees. So without thinking about it too much, I handed him my camera with one of my favourite lenses, the Canon 24/1.4 II.

He took pictures of me and the reporter in the room, and more importantly, it broke the ice and made the whole shoot pleasant and more interesting. I must say that I liked Mr Cryan, appreciated his curiosity and cooperation, and last but not least, his picture of my ugly mug whilst I was setting up.

So - in purely numerical terms - I am guessing that my portrait at the end of this slideshow, taken by the man at the helm of one of the world's largest banks, earning a six-figure salary, has probably cost more than the entire shoot...

Turkish Delights

It's been more than a decade since I've worked in Turkey - and this time, amid fears of government repression, Greenpeace Turkey did a bold action rigging a giant banner on one of the country's dirtiest coal-fired power plants in Soma. And guess what the banner said? Well, on a play of words, it said 'Grey' and 'Dirty', which in Turkish is 'Gri ve Pis'.

Colleagues in the office may be excused for the funny in-joke, but we weren't excused from climbing the 280-metre high chimney. The international team of climbers was professional, energetic and delightful - see here: